CHAPTER 210: TUNNEL OF SALVATION

Time never mattered, for the heavens had always borne witness to those who toiled.

And the wizards of the Thirteenth Regiment did.

It was unknown whether the gods were pleased with their efforts or if they were merely destined to live today.

However, after fifteen minutes of brutal fighting, the night skies shone a ray of hope.

They’d almost broken through the thin layer of beasts trying to encircle them from the left!

"FIRE!!!" roared the Imperial Wizard Army officers, ablaze with determination.

Zephyron’s breathing grew heavy, but not once did he stop, slicing and dicing the Fell Beasts with his cutting winds.

And soon enough...

"FIRE!!"

With one last, coordinated volley, a brief opening appeared, which was then secured by the earth elemental mages forming a rather short but thick layer of Earthen Walls to prevent the flanking fell force from filling the tiny gap they worked so hard for.

At last, after a few dark minutes of uncertainty, the remaining one thousand five hundred caught a glimpse of the rope of light.

And they sure as hell held tight to it.

A few more Fell Beasts fell lifelessly to the ground, and in their place came the rushing wizards from the Zephyr Battalion.

One, three, ten, twenty...

More and more humans took the crucial space.

Another minute later, there were no more Fell Beasts ahead, only to their left.

Perhaps it was more suitable to call this surge a Third Wind, but every human in the site secured it with their undying wills and the sacrifice of their fallen brothers.

Another wave of renewed vigor flowed through their veins, giving them enough energy for one last push in the battle against the fell.

More humans died as the Fellkin Warriors and the Fell Beasts of Parralen furiously tried to apply pressure from the rear.

However, Zephyron and his men were unfazed, not even feeling the exhaustion anymore, and probably for a few critical minutes.

A few hundred meters beyond was the dark stretch of the natural tunnel of Az.

If the Thirteenth Regiment could enter, it would be impossible for the fell horde to give chase due to the size of each beast, and the remaining two hundred Fellkin Warriors would simply be heading to their deaths if they dared pursue inside.

Without the Fell Beasts causing trouble for the Wind Magna, they would be the recipients of the tempest’s fury.

The Fell Beasts and the Fellkin would have to circle a short journey north before they even had a chance to continue the chase.

By then, the distance between the two parties would be huge, and it was almost certain that the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Regiments would be able to rendezvous before the pursuing fell arrived.

It would be a tall task to contend against two Magnas working together, even for the talented and ruthless fell race.

They just had to make it to the Tunnel of Az.

Still, although they were close and had one less direction to worry about, there were more than five thousand Fell Beasts and over a hundred Fellkin Warriors chasing them.

The Zephyr Battalion had suffered horrendous losses of more than half their original numbers, and the Thirteenth Regiment was down to only a little over a thousand three hundred men from their initial two-thousand-five-hundred before the battle at Parralen Valley.

Only the two Prospect Platoons were still unscathed.

However, their mana reserves were running low, and Ennya was down to perhaps her last three or four spells before she would have to rest.

The midget would lose consciousness if she emptied her mana pool.

Perhaps only Zephyron, who had been killing everything that was hindering the Thirteenth Regiment’s retreat, had a lot left in the tank.

Even that was uncertain.

The Imperial Wizard Army wizards were on their last legs, but the enemies were also growing increasingly desperate, knowing they had to stop the humans from entering the tunnel.

Minutes of brutal combat passed.

The Thirteenth Regiment drew closer and closer to the tunnel, but they were losing more and more troops as well.

Ennya was out of flames, and Hal was running out of Chaos Karma.

Things were somehow becoming both worse and better.

"FIRE!!"

With one last volley, the first row of wizards entered the safe shades of the Az Tunnel, Zephyron’s voice echoing in the night winds:

"Zephyr Battalion members, to the rear! Prospect Platoons, enter the tunnel, double time!"

There were still a lot of wizards under heavy assault from the fell, and the strongest ones naturally had to fight.

The Zephyr Battalion members, despite their battered and exhausted state, rushed to the forefront of battle once more, firing Wind Cutters and Air Cannons and summoning tornadoes a few meters behind Zephyron.

Like prey being swallowed by a snake, the length of the Imperial Wizard Army’s Thirteenth Regiment disappeared into the long, dark stretch, their pursuers growing more and more desperate.

All except for one.

In the shadows, a female Fellkin lurked, watching the murderer of her lord with a cold gaze.

Yisu needed just one sneaky chance.

"Brothers, just a bit more! We’re nearing the tunnel! Give it your all!!" shouted the Imperial Army Officers stationed near the rear, giving their subordinates the one small push they needed to make it through.

Some wizards couldn’t even run properly and were staggering their way into the tunnel.

If the hope had not been within grasp, they would’ve certainly collapsed long ago.

A squadron entered, then another, all disappearing in the safety of Az Tunnel.

"Hahahaha! We survived! We actually survived!" were the cheers of those already inside.

Soon, only the remnants of the battered Zephyr Battalion and their mighty leader remained.

Winds howled and rampaged as they fiercely resisted the desperate fell tide.

A few more seconds later, they, too, disappeared one by one, then two by two.

A hundred...

Fifty...

Twenty...

The last five that remained were the mightiest: Zephyron and his cohort.

And of course, the last one to enter was the absolute strongest.

"Raging Tempest!" exclaimed the Wind Magna, leaving the fell horde with one last, violent parting gift.

The next time they meet, the Thirteenth Regiment would be alongside the Fourteenth.

This fell tide wouldn’t appear as scary by then.

"Hmph." Zephyron snorted, watching the stormy devastation for another moment before turning around to enter the tunnel.

But before he could, the entrance of the tunnel exploded into rubble, sealing the entrance shut.